The invention relates to a piston pump arrangement with horizontally arranged pistons, plungers, or the like driven by a crank drive mechanism mounted in a crank drive housing. The crank drive housing is supportable at respective support surfaces at an installation in use position by means of a plurality of supports. The piston shafts are connected with the rotatable crank drive shaft so as to be axially horizontally reciprocable in response to rotation of the crank drive shaft. The crank drive shaft includes a connecting drive at on end of the shaft extending out of the crank drive housing for attachment to a driving motor or the like.
In piston pump arrangements of this kind, the available space for the pump arrangement and the mechanism drivingly connected to the crank drive shaft dictate whether the pump should be driven from the right hand or the left hand end of the crank drive housing as viewed in a direction along the axe of the pump pistons. Likewise, the operation site will dictate whether the crank drive housing is disposed at the right or left side of the pump.
For the foregoing reasons, the crank shaft for such piston pump arrangements must be assembled at different fitting positions in dependence on whether the crank drive shaft is to be driven from the right or left to accomodate respective end use locations, a requirement which necessarily increases the cost for such pump constructions.
It is true that corresponding problems do not exist with piston pumps of this general type with vertically oriented pistons, because such pumps exhibit approximately the same space requirements at both sides of the vertical middle plane through the axis of the crank drive shaft so that the same pump can without change in the fitting position of the crank shaft be used for both right and left sided drive. However, such pumps have a large vertical space requirement which can often prohibit their use. In addition there are static and vibration technical disadvantages with this type of vertical piston pump and furthermore the connection of the suction and or pressure lines must be arranged relatively high.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to create a piston pump arrangement of the above-mentioned general type with horizontally disposed pistons, wherein the crank drive mechanism can be substantially preassembled at the factory without concern for the in-use location and driving direction of the crank shaft. The invention proposes solving the above-mentioned problems by providing a crank drive mechanism which has support or holding surfaces for connecting the same into an in-use position, which support surfaces are disposed symmetrically with respect to a plane containing the crank drive shaft rotational axis as well a the reciprocating axes of the pump pistons driven by the crank drive shaft. In preferred embodiments, the crank drive housing is provided also as necessary with fastening receptacles or the like approximately symmetrically with respect to this horizontal plane for accomodating detachable attachment of auxiliary parts.
With the crank drive housing constructed in the above-mentioned manner according to the invention, the same can be inverted to change the driving end of the crank shaft without changing the vertical disposition of the crank drive shaft. Accordingly, the bearing support of the crank shaft in the crank drive housing can be designed and built into the manufacture of the pump arrangement at the factory without regard to the direction from which the crank drive shaft will be driven in its in-use position. The respective desired driving side can be accomodated during the final assembly of the pump arrangement which occurs at the location where the pump is to be used. The end assembly must take into account the proper alignment and connection of the required subassemblies at the crank drive mechanism, in dependence on the driving side of the crank drive shaft. Because of the symmetrical arrangement of the fastening points at the crank housing with respect to the plane through the crank shaft axis and the pump piston axes, this final assembly can be easily accomplished.
With sufficient symmetrical configuration of the crank drive housing and mechanism according to the invention, it is possible to dispose the unit for either driving direction without incurring vibration problems.
In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the end of the crank drive housing opposite of the driving connection for the crank drive shaft has a lubricating oil pump and/or cooling medium pump for circulating of cooling/lubricating medium to the crank drive mechanism and/or further pump parts such as the piston pump parts being driven by the crank drive shaft.
In especially preferred embodiments, a support cover is arranged at an end face of the crank drive shaft to support the lubricating/cooling pump aggregate in a position in driving connection to the crank drive shaft. The support cover is fastened at a housing flange by means of connecting parts such as threaded bores and bolts disposed symmetrically with respect to the horizontal plane through the crank drive shaft and the pump pistons.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the driving connection between the lubricating/cooling medium pump aggregate and the crank drive shaft is by way of a toothed ring at the end face of the crank shaft engageable with a driving pinion of the pump aggregate.
According to other preferred embodiments, the lubricating/cooling pump aggregate can be disposed and driven separately from the crank drive shaft for the horizontal pump pistons.
In preferred embodiments which have a cooler device for cooling the lubricating/cooling medium in the circuit of the lubricating/cooling aggregate, the connection lines between the cooler, the crank drive housing, and the lubricating/cooling medium pump are formed as exchangeable, similar, flexible hoses. This arrangement makes it readily possible to accomodate changes in the position of the crank drive housing by changing the connecting positions of the hoses at respective fittings disposed symmetrically with respect to the horizontal plane of the crank drive shaft axis and the pump piston reciprocating axes.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, an embodiment in accordance with the present invention.